


Make You Smile

by Kittens



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Candy Store Owner Hux, Kylo has a crush, M/M, Rey Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-12
Updated: 2018-07-12
Packaged: 2019-06-09 13:59:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15268971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittens/pseuds/Kittens
Summary: Kylo doesn't want to drive his sister around, but it's the only way he's going to get any peace and quiet. But when she asks him to take her to a candy store, Kylo quickly decides that the red-haired employee is the sweetest thing in the store. Too bad he seems to hate everyone and everything. But maybe Kylo can crack through his harsh exterior. He doesn't have anything better to do.





	Make You Smile

**Author's Note:**

> For the Kyluxxoxo Fest 2018
> 
> Week 2: Sugar/First times/Friends

“Ben! Ben!”

Kylo rolled his eyes when he heard his sister calling him. He’d moved back in with his parents just over a month ago, and both his parents and Rey never seemed to remember that his name wasn’t “Ben” anymore. He didn’t answer her, but she didn’t seem too bothered by that when she burst through his bedroom door.

“Ben!”

“That’s not my name,” he said without looking at her.

“Kylo. Whatever. Can you take me and Finn somewhere?”

“No. I’m busy.” He really wasn’t, but he also didn’t want to spend any time around Rey and her boyfriend. 

“You’re not even doing anything!” Rey walked over to look at his computer, but he closed his laptop and glared at her. “You’re just playing a game. Come on, Kylo. You said you’d help mom and dad out when you moved back in.”

“I said I’d help them out. Not drive you and your boyfriend around.”

“But it is helping them out because then they don’t have to take me later,” Rey argued, grabbing his arm and pulling on him. “Come on! Please?”

“No.”

“Please? I promise I’ll call you Kylo for a week.”

“A month,” he said as he stood up. She probably wouldn’t follow through, but he also knew she’d pester him until he gave in. Might as well try to get something out of it. “And I don’t want to watch the two of you being all mushy, got it?”

“Yes!” Rey jumped up and smiled as she ran out of the room. Kylo followed behind at a much slower pace, grabbing his keys as he left his room. He could hear Rey telling Finn that he’d agreed and he knew it was going to be a long day. Putting up with Rey and Finn’s enthusiasm was just too much for him.

When they went out to his car, he saw that both Rey and Finn intended to sit in the back, standing by the doors while waiting for Kylo to unlock them. He paused when he reached the driver door and looked at the two of them.

“You,” he said, pointing at Finn. “Get in the front.”

He noticed the worried look he gave Rey and she shrugged. When he unlocked the door, Rey got in behind the driver’s seat and Finn moved over to open the passenger side door and sat down next to Kylo.

“Where are we going?” Kylo asked, realizing he probably should have asked before he agreed.

“There’s a store on First and Poplar,” Rey said, leaning in between the driver and passenger seats. “Just get us somewhere close and we can walk.”

“First and Poplar?” Kylo asked as he started the car. “Buckle up, Rey. What kind of store is it?”

“It’s called Ginger Sweets,” Rey said, sitting back. Once he heard the click, Kylo started up the car and took off. He’d made it to the end of the street when he realized Rey hadn’t really answered the question, but he didn’t question her any further. Something seemed suspicious, but as long as he kept an eye on her, she couldn’t get into too much trouble.

“Um, Mr. Ren?” Finn said when they were nearly there. “Thanks for taking us. I…”

They came to a stop light and Kylo just looked over at him. Finn stuttered a bit, then fell silent, looking out the window. Kylo was glad he took the hint. He’d agreed to drive them, but he didn’t really want to talk to them, even if Finn was a nice enough kid. Not that Kylo would ever admit that out loud.

Just to discourage any further conversation, he turned up the music so it would be nearly impossible to have a conversation without shouting. Had it only been him and Rey in the car, she probably would have done so, since they had no problem yelling at each other. But Rey was a very different person when Finn was around. Much nicer, Kylo thought. They didn’t speak until Kylo found a parking spot near the store.

As soon as the engine was off, Finn and Rey jumped out and started walking down the street. They had a head start, but Kylo was taller and had a longer stride and easily caught up to them before they made it to their destination. Glancing up at the yellow sign declaring the name of the shop as “Ginger Sweets,” Kylo guessed it was a candy store, as there was a picture of a pink candy between the two words.

One look inside the store confirmed that - the walls were lined with bins of all kinds of different candies and there were various displays throughout the middle of the store. Kylo also spied a counter with chocolates but his attention was quickly drawn to the man standing behind the counter.

Given the bright decor of the store, he was a little surprised to see the man wore all black, but with a pink name tag. And unlike most retail employees Kylo had met, he didn’t smile or even greet them but instead scowled. He stepped out from behind the counter and walked towards them, the scowl remaining. 

“Is this your first time here?” he asked. Now that he was closer, Kylo could read his name tag and saw the name “Hux” written on it.

“Yes,” Rey said, barely suppressing a giggle.

“Right. Well, there are a few rules.” The man glanced at Kylo before returning his attention to the teenagers. “First of all, there are no free samples. If you want to try something, you can buy it. The bulk candy is organized by price in a very clear way, so there’s no excuse to mix things that are different prices. And I don’t want to see your bare hands in the containers. There are scoops and tongs for a reason. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Finn and Rey said, giggling and walking away quickly. 

“I assume you’re their adult,” Hux said, looking him over and somehow managing to scowl even more. “If they cause any damage, you’ll be responsible for it.”

“Are you -” Kylo had noticed the man’s red hair and was about to ask if he was the sweet ginger the store was named after, but he stopped himself, realizing the poor man probably got that question a thousand times a day. 

“Am I what?” Hux asked.

“Um,” Kylo had to think fast and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Single?”

“That’s not any of your business,” Hux said, turning and walking quickly back to the counter. 

Kylo was a bit embarrassed he had asked that, but he didn’t have time to think of anything better to say. Even if he seemed a bit uptight, he was rather cute, Kylo thought. And he hadn’t said he wasn’t single or that he wasn’t interested in men. But he didn’t really seem interested in Kylo either. 

Trying not to think about Hux, he joined Finn and Rey as they were looking at some of the gummy candies and he quickly noticed the organization that Hux had mentioned. Each candy bin had a color coded label and were grouped together, and the price per pound was listed on several signs. Kylo looked between two bins, wondering how anyone would even know which ones were which in the bag. No one could possibly know that one candy was out of place.

He put a few gummies in a bag and looked at some of the more expensive gummies a little further down the wall. Surely Hux wouldn’t notice if he had one piece of candy that didn’t belong.

“Don’t even think about it,” Hux called.

Kylo turned quickly and saw that Hux was reading something behind the counter and not even looking at him. He couldn’t have possibly known what he was thinking about. Not unless he was some kind of mind reader. That might explain why he was able to get away with his attitude and wearing all black in the otherwise yellow and pink store. But that was ridiculous, of course.

“I was just looking,” Kylo said. He grabbed another bag for the more expensive candies as if that had been his intention all along and started filling it up. Just because he was curious, he grabbed two more bags and made sure to get candy from each of the price groups before heading up to the register.

He hadn’t looked at the chocolates behind the glass display case, but now that they were right there, he could see just how good they looked. Many of them had colorful decorations on them, but there were also a few things like skulls and black flowers.

“Could I get one of those?” Kylo asked, pointing to the chocolates with skulls. He didn’t mean to, but his finger accidentally touched the glass. It was just so clean that Kylo couldn’t really see where it was. Hux didn’t say anything, but simply got up and got the candy. “And, uh, one of those.”

That time, Kylo intentionally touched the glass just to see the look on Hux’s face. He kept it up, asking for eight pieces of chocolate before he decided Hux was frowning as much as he possibly could. Hux then rang him up, the different types of candy giving him no trouble at all as he weighed each bag separately and rang them up correctly.

Kylo handed over his card when Hux gave him his total, a little embarrassed he was spending that much on candy. He didn’t even like candy all that much, as he preferred salty snacks. He did enjoy it from time to time, although he felt like he had enough to last him an entire year.

“Wow, Kylo,” Rey said from behind him. “That’s a lot of candy.”

“I can spend my money however I like,” Kylo growled at her, grabbing his bag of candy and his card once he’d finished paying. “Hurry up and pay.”

Together, Finn and Rey bought far less candy than he had, buying only a single bag of the least expensive candies and they both pulled out cash to pay. They split the cost and once they had their change, Kylo ushered them out.

When they made it to his car, he didn’t even notice that both Finn and Rey were in the backseat and by the time he noticed, it was too late to make one of them move. He could have pulled over, but he really didn’t care what they did any longer, unable to stop thinking about the man in the candy store. 

 

In less than a week, Kylo had eaten all of the candy he’d bought. He’d shared a little with Finn and Rey, but he ate most of it on his own, usually while thinking about Hux and how he’d need to go back to the store to get more candy soon. 

“Hey, Rey,” he said, walking into the kitchen where she and Finn were working on homework. He glanced at it, saw it was math and looked away quickly. “Did the two of you need to go back to that candy store?”

“Um, no,” Rey said.

“Oh.” Kylo stood there stupidly for a few seconds. “Well, did you want to go?”

“We’re kinda busy right now.”

“What about you Finn?” Kylo asked going to stand behind him. “You wanna take a break?”

“Not really,” he said. 

“You can go by yourself, you know,” Rey said. 

“Yeah, but that’s kind of weird. You know you guys should take a break. Breaks are good for you.”

“You’re going to bother us until we go, aren’t you?” 

“Pretty much.”

Rey and Finn looked at each other and they seemed to be having a wordless conversation. Somehow, they came to a decision, and Finn shrugged and they both closed their books. Kylo grinned, seeing that they were going along with his plan.

Kylo didn’t know why he was so excited about the idea of seeing the red-haired man again. He hadn’t been very nice and Kylo didn’t think he’d be any friendlier the second time around. And he might not even be there. For all he knew, it was his day off. But when he walked in the store, he saw Hux standing behind the counter and smiled.

“Hi,” Kylo said, as he walked up to the counter. Hux frowned at him. So he hadn’t just been having a bad day the last time he’d been in.

“Did you need something?” Hux asked.

“Just saying hi,” Kylo shrugged.

“Maybe you should be paying attention to those kids you’re with,” Hux said. “Remember. You’re responsible for any damage they cause.”

Kylo smiled at him and then turned his attention to Rey and Finn, although they weren’t causing any trouble. They were laughing when he walked over but quickly stopped and started talking about candy. Wanting another excuse to talk to Hux, Kylo hurried them so he could check out, not even caring that he was paying for their candy.

“If you want chocolates, you can order them by name,” Hux said as Kylo approached. “There’s no need for you to touch the glass.”

Kylo smiled and since Hux mentioned it, he bought a few chocolates as well, but did as he asked and kept his hands off the glass. It had been somewhat amusing to irritate him that first time, but he hoped to leave things on a friendlier note.

Whether or not he was successful at that, Kylo wasn’t sure. Hux didn’t even tell him to have a nice day. He actually had the feeling that he wanted to tell him to get out once he’d finished paying. But now that he’d seen that Hux always appeared to be in a bad mood, he set himself a new goal - make Hux smile.

 

After visiting Ginger Sweets at least once a week - and usually twice a week - for the past three months, it was no secret what he was up to. Rey liked to tease him endlessly about his crush on the man, who Kylo discovered was the owner of the store. That explained how he got away with that attitude, but it also brought up more questions. 

He was going alone, which became more and more normal for him. Rey had eventually refused to go with him, and since he was determined to make Hux smile, he started going on his own. It was probably for the best because he determined that Hux didn’t exactly like teenagers and even though Finn and Rey were always well behaved, their presence seemed to put him in a worse mood.

When he walked in, he greeted Hux as he usually did, and as usual, he got no response. For the most part, Hux ignored him while he was in the store. But Kylo had a plan that would hopefully at least get him talking.

“Hey, Hux, I got a question for you,” Kylo said. He waited a few moments, and Hux glanced his direction before returning his attention to wiping down the counter. “Why’d you open a candy store? It doesn’t seem like your thing.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” Hux said.

“I feel like I know you at least a little,” Kylo said. “I see you more than just about anyone else in my life. We’re basically f-”

“Do not say we’re friends,” Hux interrupted. “You are someone who clearly has a sugar addiction and I am the person providing said sugar. The only reason I even know your name is because your friends have shouted it across the store.”

“But you remembered it,” Kylo said, unable to resist grinning.

“I unfortunately remember quite a bit,” Hux said. “Even if I’d rather not.”

“Well I still think of you as a friend,” Kylo mumbled as he walked away from the counter. He pretended to look at some candy while trying to think of something else he could say to him. Hux hardly even looked at him, but he was determined to get his attention somehow.

Nothing had come to mind when Kylo was distracted by the sound of muffled laughter. He turned his head and saw a group of four teenagers, which he was about to ignore when he noticed what they were doing. 

One of them had their phone out, and Kylo could see they were about to record a video. The others were starting to make a mess of one of the displays, and Kylo glanced at Hux and knew what was about to happen. Before Hux could leave the counter, Kylo made his move. He snuck up behind the kids and grabbed the phone from his hands, ignoring his protests.

“You shouldn’t do that,” he said, glaring down at them. He usually didn’t try to be intimidating - his height and build did that for him - but he wanted to make sure the kids didn’t bother Hux again.

“Give me my phone back!” one of them shouted while trying to grab the phone, but Kylo held it just out of his reach.

“You can’t just steal his phone!” another added.

“Put everything back the way it was and you can have it.”

The kids looked like they were about to argue, but one of them started to fix the display and the others quickly helped out. Once Kylo was satisfied they’d done a good job, he handed the phone back. The kid grabbed it, but Kylo didn’t let go.

“I’d suggest you either buy something or get out,” Kylo said, finally letting the teenager take the phone. With a small amount of grumbling, the group left, having caused no damage. And hopefully, Hux was saved a little bit of trouble.

“I suppose that’s one way to deal with that problem,” Hux said from behind him. Kylo turned and saw he’d come up behind him while he’d been distracted. 

“Does that happen a lot?” Kylo asked. 

“Unfortunately. The kids at the local school have decided it’s hilarious when I ask them to not make a mess of my store. They’re making videos of it.”

“I’m sorry, Hux.”

“Well, I’m glad you discouraged them. Maybe you should spend more time around the store.”

“Maybe I would if I had a reason to,” Kylo said. “You know, like, maybe if I had a friend who worked here?”

Suddenly, Hux wasn’t looking at him, and his cheeks were turning pink. “I’ve never had a friend before,” he said softly. 

“First time for everything,” Kylo said, grinning. Finally, Hux met his eyes and held his hand out. Kylo shook it, and as he did, he saw the briefest, smallest smile, but he’d finally seen what he was starting to think was impossible.

And that meant it was time to make him smile for a second time. Somehow, he felt like that would be easier.

**Author's Note:**

> I was originally going to write this as a longer fic but I saw the prompts for this week and couldn't resist. Someday I may expand on this AU 'cause I like candy and Kylux. Come say hi on [tumblr](http://threewinterssnow.tumblr.com).


End file.
